Detergent compositions containing high levels of particulates are available as a solid or as a paste. Exemplary solid detergent compositions are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,296 to Lentsch et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,392 to Lentsch et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,765 to Wei et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,021 to Man et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,715 to Lentsch et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,324 to Lentsch et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,410,495 to Lentsch et al. Liquids can be generated from these solids by dissolving a portion of the solids in water in a dispenser that can utilize electronics to handle changes in water temperature and pressure.
Structured liquid compositions have been developed for use in the liquid detergent industry to increase the loading of generally non-soluble components in the liquid composition. The term “structured liquid composition” has been used to refer to pourable, fluid, non-Newtonian compositions that have the capacity physically to suspend solid particles by virtue of the presence of a surfactant mesophase or solid phase, which may be interspersed with a solvent phase. The surfactant phase can be represented as packed spherulites dispersed in the aqueous phase. Alternatively, a thin mobile lamellar phase or a bi-continuous reticular interspersion of aqueous and lamellar phases may be present. Structured liquid compositions are disclosed by, for example, European Publication No. 623,670; European Publication No. 38,101; European Publication No. 160,342; European Publication No. 104,452; U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,762 to Clapperton et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,952,285 to Hawkins; U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,195 to Machin et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,223 to Vasudevan et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,840.
A liquid conditioner composition capable of containing a relatively large concentration of particulate water conditioning agent is described in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/907,483 that was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Jul. 17, 2001. U.S. application Ser. No. 09/907,483 is assigned to Ecolab Inc., the assignee of the present patent application.